Vault Lineup Shines in Huskers' Annual Intrasquad

Lincoln ? The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team held its annual intrasquad meet Friday night at Mabel Lee Hall, posting a team score of 194.325.

 

NU performed on all four events, beginning with balance beam, where freshman Maria Scaffidi led off for the Huskers with a 9.525. Senior Michele Zabawa followed with a 9.65, and junior Desire’ Sniatynski, sophomore Kylie Stone and Tricia Woo posted matching scores of 9.675. Junior Emily Parsons notched the team’s highest score on the event with a 9.75 to bring the team score to a 48.425. Sophomore Vanessa Meloche also debuted her beam routine with a 9.60, and senior Stephanie Carter and sophomore Sabrina Long scored a 9.725 and a 9.55, respectively.

 

In the second rotation on floor exercise, Scaffidi again served as leadoff with a strong 9.725. Carter served in the No. 2 spot with a 9.65, and Sniatynski and Woo equaled each other a 9.225 each. Stone put up a score of 9.725, and Parsons anchored the floor team in her usual No. 6 spot with a 9.775 to give the squad a 48.15 event score. Zabawa (9.65), Long (9.50) and junior Brittney Williams (9.65) also competed their routines to show Husker fans’ the team’s considerable depth on floor for 2007.

 

NU then moved on to vault to find Scaffidi as its leadoff competitor, who earned a 9.75 for her Yurchenko arabian. Carter came up with a 9.80 to start off a group of four consecutive Yurchenko layout full vaults, and Zabawa’s performance garnered her a 9.775. Stone then grabbed a mark of 9.80, and Sniatynski worked from the No. 5 position to earn a 9.75. Parsons took the highest score of the entire meet with a 9.90 for her new Yurchenko 1 1/2, to push the team’s event score to a 49.025. Woo and Long were Nebraska’s final competitors on vault, showing a 9.825 and 9.65, respectively.

 

The Huskers capped the evening on bars, and Scaffidi set the page with a 9.725. Stone added a 9.675, while Williams notched a 9.775. Zabawa scored a strong 9.80, and Meloche (9.05) and Sniatynski (9.75) gave the final two counted performances of the night to propel the Huskers to a 48.725 team total on bars. Carter and Parsons were NU’s two additional competitors on the event, contributing a 9.65 and 9.25, respectively.

 

“I thought this was a good start for us tonight,” Head Coach Dan Kendig. “We have shown considerable improvement from the one-arounds we’ve been doing in practice, and this was a great atmosphere for our gymnasts to show off some of the skills they have upgraded this year. Floor and vault were especially good to see tonight; there is a lot of potential there. We still have a lot of work to do before our first meet of the season, but overall, I am encouraged by the performance our team gave.”

 

Nebraska opens its season at the Super Six Challenge in Fayetteville, Ark., on Jan. 5. Competition is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Arkansas’ Barnhill Arena, and the seventh-ranked Huskers will take on No. 3 Florida, No. 9 LSU, No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Arkansas and No. 17 Denver.